Electricity

Textbooks tend to have good activities for this strand.

This is an assignment that can be started before much of the electrical work goes ahead. Again, this might work more effectively as a group collaboration. Each student can provide a different perspective to the big picture of e-waste. Gathering information about their own electronic devices and the devices used by their peers can provide some insight into their own choices.

Originally, this was an extension of an assignment that looked at Conflict Minerals that are used in electronic devices. This was a research piece for the Chemistry unit - the Element Project was not very STSE oriented - but I don't have an e-copy of that file. I will see what I can do in the next week or two.

This activity needs some scaffolding and easy access to information. A visit to a hardware store (Home Depot, RONA or Lowe's) is probably the best way to find this information. At one point I found a good website, but it changed (lightbulb month was over - here is one for [|RONA)]. What are the four types of lights? a) Incandescent b) CFL c) LED d) halogen This work helps students think about how bulb selection uses more or less energy for about the same amount of light. This is a useful page for the Mars Colony task.

This file has some useful information about CFL bulbs

. If students have worked in groups to find information about power generation, this page can help pull the ideas together - a number of key ideas in one place - a useful resource for the student when they study.